Mental Evolution in Man: Origin of Human FacultyRomanes, George John
Science
Mental Evolution in Man: Origin of Human Faculty
Romanes, George John
Evolution; Psychology, Comparative
And so it is with regard to Instinct. Understanding this term in
the sense previously defined,[4] it is unquestionably true that in
man—especially during the periods of infancy and youth—sundry
well-marked instincts are presented, which have reference chiefly to
nutrition, self-preservation, reproduction, and the rearing of progeny.
No one has ventured to dispute that all these instincts are identical
with those which we observe in the lower animals; nor, on the other
hand, has any one ventured to suggest that there is any instinct which
can be said to be peculiar to man, unless the moral and religious
sentiments are taken to be of the nature of instincts. And although it
is true that instinct plays a larger part in the psychology of many
animals than it does in the psychology of man, this fact is plainly of
no importance in the present connection, where we are concerned only
with identity of principle. If any one were childish enough to argue
that the mind of a man differs in kind from that of a brute because
it does not display any particular instinct—such, for example, as
the spinning of webs, the building of nests, or the incubation of
eggs,—the answer of course would be that, by parity of reasoning, the
mind of a spider must be held to differ in kind from that of a bird. So
far, then, as instincts and emotions are concerned, the parallel before
us is much too close to admit of any argument on the opposite side.
With regard to Volition more will be said in a future instalment of
this work. Here, therefore, it is enough to say, in general terms,
that no one has seriously questioned the identity of kind between the
animal and the human will, up to the point at which so-called freedom
is supposed by some dissentients to supervene and characterize the
latter. Now, of course, if the human will differs from the animal will
in any important feature or attribute such as this, the fact must be
duly taken into account during the course of our subsequent analysis.
At present, however, we are only engaged upon a preliminary sketch of
the points of resemblance between animal and human psychology. So far,
therefore, as we are now concerned with the will, we have only to note
that up to the point where the volitions of a man begin to surpass
those of a brute in respect of complexity, refinement, and foresight,
no one disputes identity of kind.
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